He Swings, She Sings

Amy Lepard, a.k.a. Mrs. Chad Campbell, is taking a big rip at a music career with a self-produced album due this spring

Chad Campbell came out of tiny Andrews, Texas, (pop. 9,652) and up through the mini-tours to earn $8 million on the PGA Tour over the last five years. Now his wife, Amy Lepard, wants to see if long-shot success runs in the family.

A former second-grade teacher in Andrews, Lepard will release her first CD, On My Own, in May. "This is so different from anything I've ever done before," says Lepard, who grew up singing in the church choir. Last summer she spent six months in Studio City, Calif., producing the 12-track album. "Chad's reputation is on the line, too, because he gave me the financing," says Lepard, who's spent about $200,000 on the project. "But I wanted to do this on pure talent." Universal will distribute the disc nationally. "If we can sell enough, it increases the odds that the major labels will notice," Lepard says.

Lepard played the disc for the Tour's main musical wannabe, John Daly, who has his own self-produced CD. "He loved it," Lepard says. "It would be a kick to do some stuff together because John is too fun."

And Chad's reaction? "He said it was good," Lepard says. "I was like, Could I have a little more than that? Now I know what the writers go through with Chad." --Art Striklin

COLOR PHOTO

DEXTER BROWN FOR PHATEFX (LEPARD)

Amy Lepard